Syria's opposition has called for major protests on Friday, as skirmishes between troops and rebels tested a shaky ceasefire to end a 13-month crackdown on dissent that has killed thousands.
North Korea has been developing a new long-range ballistic missile in a separate programme from the one that led to a failed rocket launch this week, a South Korean TV station reported today.
Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shot dead five protesters after yesterday prayers, activists reported, while the government said an army officer was killed as violence marred a ceasefire brokered by international peace envoy Kofi Annan.
Thousands of US soldiers will begin nearly two weeks of war games in the Philippines on Monday as the two nations look to strengthen their military alliance amid concerns over China's rising power.
Chinese fishing boats left a disputed area of the South China Sea with their catches on Saturday, ending a six-day standoff but dealing a blow to Philippine efforts to assert sovereignty over the area and protect marine resources.
A UN-backed ceasefire that took effect in Syria at dawn is only being "partially observed" as heavy weapons and government troops remain deployed in cities, the main opposition movement said on Thursday.
Indonesia's president said there were no reports of casualties or damage from a huge earthquake off Aceh province on Wednesday, with no threat from a tsunami although an alert for a giant wave remained in place.
An 8.2-magnitude aftershock struck off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island today, following a stronger quake that triggered an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert.
Following is a look at some of the major disasters, man-made and natural, that hit Indonesia since the Asian tsunami of 2004 as a 8.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia today.
An 8.6-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's coast but a major tsunami is unlikely. Here's why.
In nations around the Indian Ocean, thousands scrambled for higher ground Wednesday after powerful quakes triggered fears of a disaster in a region all too familiar with the power of a tsunami.
Terrified villagers on a remote Indonesian island near the eye of a massive quake ran out of their homes and headed for the hills when the ground began to shake today.
Iranian security forces have arrested an Israeli-backed "terrorist team" that was planning attacks inside Iran, the intelligence ministry announced Tuesday, four days before crucial nuclear talks with world powers.
North Korea's five-day window to launch a rocket opened on Thursday with Asian countries on alert, as Washington told G8 world powers that the communist state was in flagrant violation of a UN ban.
Five people were killed and a child was critically injured when a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of northern Indonesia on Wednesday, the country's disaster mitigation agency said on Thursday.